


Rose goes a little bit overboard

by Imherefinally



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood, Body Horror, F/F, nerf atrocities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-16 04:52:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18514279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imherefinally/pseuds/Imherefinally
Summary: Rose tries to get to know Vriska a little better. It doesn't help that they scare the shit out of each other.





	Rose goes a little bit overboard

The trolls were intimidating. Even with all they’ve been through Dave struggled to keep his shit together and Rose kept twitching to her weapons when one of them made a move. She was even afraid of Kanaya, approaching every interaction with caution until she knew for certain that she was the same person she’d been chatting with. There was something about her that put her at ease faster than the others. She moved more smoothly, silently. Karkat pointed out later that trolls found that behavior terrifying, and it was new. 

Cultural differences notwithstanding, Kanaya was the most comfortable to be around for a while. Karkat next. In her mind she knew Vriska was the most dangerous, but there was something about Terezi that just… well. The first time she laughed the sound made Dave turn and sprint to the door and Rose lose all the color in her skin. 

Maybe it wasn’t the laugh, but the rows and rows of needle point teeth that seemed to stretch down into her throat. Maybe it was the way her entire frame jolted with even the smallest chuckle. Maybe it was all of those things. 

It was difficult to adjust, but adjust she did. Day to day it was simpler to imagine that she was sharing a space with other teenagers that went through the same things she did, and in a way that was true. Romance went by a different name, as did most things, and their dialect was hair raising, but it was still romance. Kanaya was beautiful in many ways, and Rose came to appreciate almost all of them.

The first time she saw a troll without a shirt on fear blinded her until she came to with her head against Kanaya’s chest, soothing words murmured in her ear. They agreed to take things slower after that.

She sometimes forgot that she was living with aliens. The illusion was often shattered by one of them lifting the fridge with one hand. Their strength was alarming as were their… bonding rituals? Rose once saw Terezi shatter a plate over Vriska’s face and then proceed to act like it was no big deal. That paired with stories of extreme violence in even their most tame works of literature convinced Rose that she needed to stay alert. 

She asked Kanaya for advice.

“Hmm… well kill Gamzee on sight, if it’s Vriska run, Terezi is usually joking and Karkat is not much of a threat.”  
“Well that was very… blunt. I was hoping you could give me a few tips on troll psychology.”  
“I could.”  
“Yes?”  
“Well you’ve observed us, what would you say?”  
“That your society has crafted you into efficient killers with the biology to match.”

Kanaya let out a sigh. 

“We’re trying not to scare you. I am sorry it’s not quite working.”  
“That’s, I didn’t know you were trying.”  
“I am. Karkat is. Terezi thinks it’s funny.”  
“Of course she does.”

The beat of silence stretched on, and Rose reached for Kanaya’s hand. She ran over the little niches that she tried to memorize and let her thoughts turn over in her head.

“I want to try and talk to Vriska.”  
“If I’m correct then she’s the one who scares you the most.”  
“You are correct. I wanted, I don’t know. How do trolls make friends?”  
“I would say it’s much the same as you do, from what I’ve seen. Vriska is… she was more molded by our home than the rest of us, I can say that. I would encourage you to approach her with some kind of challenge, if you really want to know her. If things get rough I can intervene immediately-“  
“Don’t worry Kanaya, I think I know what to do.”

Rose stood and walked off.

“Oh, darling, I-” Kan sighed. 

She alchemized some stuff, trying to get the exact kind of aesthetic that a thirteen year old murder machine would find “cool”. She cordoned off a room and waited until mandatory communal dinner was well underway, aware that this kind of stunt would get her an earful from Karkat. Oh well. 

There’s one thing she knows for certain; a survival oriented hunter like Vriska wouldn’t leave anyone unaccounted for. That and she has a certain knack for finding people even if they didn’t want to be found. All she had to do was wait and…

“ROSE”

she would fall for the b8. 

“What are you planning? 

…

I don’t like it…”

Vriska walked into the room, looking around for wherever the fuck Rose went. The humans seemed a little too trigger happy for her liking, and it didn’t help that they were so squishy. There had to be some sort of edge they were hiding, but she watched all their battles and… nothing. 

Rose was probably the creepiest. Hiding whenever she was in the room, scurrying away with Kanaya, she hardly got a good look at her before she was gone. But no tactician like her would leave anyone like Vriska out of sight for long, and she knew well what that meant. 

It felt like a ghost was watching her. It’d been months since they met, and she wasn’t exactly trying to be friendly but a hello every now and then would be nice. At this point she was practically expecting an ambush.

“FUCK-“

Well she got one. 

Rose let out a blinding flash from the tip of her knitting needles and lunged. Vriska instinctively let her god hood down and sidestepped, but she was a little too slow. The needle caught the edge of her arm and the impact sent her staggering a few steps. 

Rose recovered from the lunge only to meet two hands on her shoulders and a body slamming full speed into hers. Vriska completed her throw and took a few steps back into a defensive position.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT YOU CRAZY BITCH?!”  
“I thought a challenge might dissipate the collective tension between us,” Rose stood calmly, needles to the side, “disip-8, if you will.”

She had been planning that line for hours, hopeful that the reference might soothe slightly the egomaniac in front of her. In reality she was almost shaking from head to toe, the only thing keeping her still was the smooth wash of fear.

“WHAT THE FUCK?! I’LL KILL YOU!”  
“-and lose?”

The wildness in her eyes abated a bit. Rose couldn’t tell if the threat was genuine or not, but for now she was safe. Safer, at least.

“This is a sparring match, you’ve seen me fight, but I haven’t seen you. Now, isn’t that unfair?”  
“I’ve never cared for fair Lalonde.”

She was ready this time, stepping a pace back to let Vriska’s weight carry her a bit too far. Both of them tumbled to the floor, Rose getting a blast off at a critical moment to disengage. A die fell out of her hood, and Rose swiftly picked it up before she could get to her feet.

“What do I get if I win?”

Shit.

She’d entertained this possibility briefly, but thought it wouldn’t come to pass. 

“A second chance.”  
“What-“

Rose weaved a shockwave in front of her, and rammed into Vriska. She toppled to the floor and Rose pointed a needle at her throat. 

“A second chance to know me. I’ve seen you sulk off into the meteor I know everyone’s scared of you and you’re scared of everyone.”

Vriska let off a low growl as she stood.

“I’m not scared.”  
“Oh? then prove me wrong.”

She flashed the fluorite octet into her hand, and had to look twice when she saw one missing. Panic escaped on her face until she saw Rose, holding it with a confident smile and a trembling hand. Scared, huh?

She’d take the handicap. She could beat her any day, with anything. The fluorite octet septet gave her a baseball bat-shaped club, with fluorite spikes. Sweet.

Rose braced for the impact and held the bat between her two needles. Vriska leaned her strength on the fulcrum, and it started to tilt Rose-wise. Before she got totally dominated Rose slipped under and clashed with her opponent’s legs. Not quite enough to make her fall, but enough to get out of the incoming grapple. 

A blind swing of the bat caught her in the arm, and though she braced it threw her and tore her shirt. Seeing this, she finally switched into her god garb. The orange was growing on her. 

One of the octet rolled to the ground, and suddenly the bat was replaced by a nerf gun. She hurled it at Rose and made a mad dive for her die. Rose caught it full in the face. God damn it. 

Bloody nose and all she hurled herself after her; she broke the one law of nerf combat. Silly fucking room, stupid decorations, to find out what? That Vriska was a cold bitch capable of petty wins? Oh, if it wasn’t on before, it was on now. 

Because that. Fucking. HURT!

She might have caught the die but she also caught an elbow to the back of the head, and the shoulder dive that came after. Rose’s legs were torn out from under her as she attempted a third blow, and they started rolling around on the ground. Dirty blows abounded, it was impossible to tell who broke what rule first (Vriska). 

“You didn’t even appreciate my decorations!”  
“Fuck you! Who even does this!”  
“You! You and your whole crazy murder planet!”  
“We do NOT!”

Vriska had Rose pinned to the ground.

“We DON’T- AAARGH”

Rose bashed her skull into her nose. Something cracked. 

Her blow landed right in the nerf gun shadow. Fuck.

Vriska fell away and scooted back a bit. Rose held out her hand, clutching her head with the other. 

“Tie?”  
“I am, NOT, shaking your hand.”  
“Fine.” Rose stood up and walked over, hand outstretched, “bandaid?”  
“Whatever.” She took her hand and used it to stand. 

Where there was fear before now there was… a little bit of hatred? She supposed, maybe something could grow out of it, at least. Where before there was nothing, now there was…

ugh.


End file.
